Astronomers’ telescope to search for origins of universe
The universities of Portsmouth, Oxford and Southampton are joining forces with experts from around the country to construct the first major radio telescope to be built in Britain for decades.
The first stage of the European Low Frequency Array (Lofar) telescope involves 96 radio antennae being erected this week in a field at the Chilbolton Observatory near Andover, Hampshire.
This will be followed with 5,000 separate antennae being stationed all over Europe with some already in place in the Netherlands and Germany with others planned in France, Sweden and Poland.
Professor Bob Nichol, of the University of Portsmouth’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said: “The Lofar telescope will produce an enormous volume of data which will enable a significant amount of science, from monitoring the sun’s activity to potentially searching for alien intelligence.
“Maybe we can answer the age-old question ‘Are we alone?’”
The Lofar will collect data which the scientists hope will enable them to detect when the first stars in the universe were formed as well as observe some of the most distant galaxies.
This could help them to reveal how the universe evolved.
The antennae installed across Europe will work at the lowest FM frequencies accessible from Earth and will be connected using sophisticated computing and high-speed internet.
